'The wicket is unusual'

It's not a very common scenario to hear the host team confessing to having absolutely 'no idea' regarding the behaviour of their pitch. However, that's exactly what unfolded in Fatullah yesterday, as both Bangladesh's head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim claimed to be confused regarding the nature of the wicket.

"The pitch is very hard to read. I haven't seen a pitch like this before. Looking

at the wicket all I can say is that it's not

going to be a fast bowlers' paradise," said Hathurusingha.

Mushfiqur echoed the Sri Lankan's thoughts and expects the ball to turn from Day One. "I feel that the game will depend upon the spinners and the batsmen," he said.

Hathurusingha, who repeatedly stated his astonishment at the unique state of the wicket, admitted that this was the first time that the team management had 'no control' over the wicket.

"There's a lot of cut-grass on the wickets. Either you have plenty of grass or you don't. But this is unusual. It's new to me, but I don't know about the others. I think the grass has got something to do with the heat and to keep the moisture for a longer period of time," said Hathurusingha.

In a similar vein Mushfiqur said, "We see cut grass on the wicket in one day cricket very often, but I don't know

what effect that will have over the next five days.

"We always ask for a particular kind of wicket. It's really hot now so it's a challenge for the curators as well to prepare the appropriate wicket. Their job is difficult. But it's not as though the wicket will decide the result. Yes the wicket is a little different, but we need to play our best game," added Mushfiqur.